Pawns and Players
by thisiswhyishouldn'twritefanfic
Summary: When an old enemy of Oz' resurfaces looking for revenge, he sets in motion a plan to save his company and his people.
1. Chapter 1

**Pawns and Players  
Chapter One  
Word Count:** 1,884 **  
Rating:** T/PG-13, with discussions of/implied torture and some... worse things **  
Disclaimer:** Normally I'm wittier, but... I got nothing. I would say I own nothing, but that's not true. I have a bit of original fiction I should be working on instead. **  
Summary:** When an old enemy of Oz' resurfaces looking for revenge, he sets in motion a plan to save his company and his people. **  
Author's Note:** I remember thinking as soon as I saw the first episode of season two that things had changed significantly, and as the season continued, more people acted out of character and a lot of the fun spark the first season had was just... gone. I also really didn't buy that Oz went broke and had to sell his company (I can see him as a gambling addict to a point, but even the obsession with the sword doesn't do enough to make me believe that was what caused all this.

I got to thinking about Shaw and his need to destroy Oz, and at first, I was just thinking of him actually managing to get the upper hand for once and how that might go, but that changed itself into this idea, which allowed me to explain all sorts of out of character behavior and still do a lot of what I was thinking of in a revenge story. It's not one the show would have told as it is likely to be darker and the humor more lined up with that when it happens, but I couldn't help almost wishing this was the way it happened and why it happened.

I also had thought I'd only post this to A03, but there's just not enough Breaking In fic anywhere, so I thought I'd try sharing it here, too, just in case someone else was like me and wanting more.

* * *

 **Chapter One**

"Hello, old friend."

Oz did not sweat. Oz did not know fear. The first, at least, was true. The second was a bit more of a gray area. That was the trouble with emotions. They weren't as easily cut off as a sweat gland or a phone call. It was true that little rattled him, and usually that took the form of anger, not fear. He would put his hand through walls and threaten his staff with a sword.

He would not cower. Not ever.

Except the voice on the other end of the line and a few thousand unpleasant memories made that almost a tempting option.

Tempting, but still only an option.

"That's an interesting term for what we are. Friends don't exactly try and kill each other. The whole leaving someone for dead aspect tends to destroy any friendship that might ever have existed," Oz said. Those memories weren't even mentioned in jokes, no matter how many times the letters KGB made the rounds. "Or have you forgotten that?"

"I never forgot, though you seem to have," the other man said. "You betrayed me first."

Oz snorted. "You also have a very interesting way of rewriting history."

"You are the one with the faulty memory, Oz," the other man went on, trying to make this sound like a normal conversation, like he was as charming as ever. Deacon used ooze that, and people would fall for anything he did. He had Josh beat as far as infiltration went, and people who could fool Oz were rare, but this one had.

He still had nightmares because of it, though he would deny their existence and the fact that he ever slept to the day he died.

"Do you think about it, Ferris? What you did to me? Because I do. I do every day."

"And now you sound like a bad cliché. You should hire a new writer. I know a few, I can put you in touch with them," Oz said, though he would definitely give him the names of the worst of the hacks if the man took him up on it. He wasn't giving this bastard a damned thing.

"You still use humor to deflect. It's cute."

"As opposed to you. There's nothing cute about you."

"Ah, Ferris. You are such a tease. There are a few things that you should know. First of all, you should remember that I am and always have been the type to hold a grudge. That was something you never should have forgotten, and if you did, in fact, forget, then I will take great pleasure in reminding you. It's past time we meet again. I will enjoy seeing your life in ruins, burned to ash as I take everyone and everything that has ever mattered to you."

"Amusing threat coming from you."

Deacon laughed. "You still think I'm locked away, don't you? If I was, would I really be calling you?"

"You did," Oz told him. "Every day as soon as they gave you phone privileges. Of course, I made sure they took them away again, but then you were rather colorful, if vulgar, about what you were planning on doing to me."

"And yet you managed to forget."

"You are very high strung. Like one of those yippy little dogs. Still don't understand why she has one. So unlike her, but then she is a contradiction," Oz mused, unable not to think about Melanie and her little horndog. That wasn't the sort of pet he would have expected her to have, but then Melanie was unique, and she probably enjoyed defying that part of her wild girl stereotype.

"Don't try and change the subject, Ferris. You can't hide in humor forever. You know me. You know what I'm capable of. You know what I will do to you. Of course, that will wait until after I've done it all to your little... team. You were always so smart before. Never let anyone stay around, never got attached... You didn't have friends, you had people you used, and it was a good thing. You were never vulnerable."

"I'm still not."

"Oh, but you are. I'm not even talking about your on again off again thing with that woman. I'm talking about this little 'family' you've appropriated for yourself using your business. You care about them, and you know what that means. It means I get to take them from you one by one until there is nothing and no one left. They will die. Their deaths will be slow and painful—"

"Again with the clichés."

"I'll take Contra from you first, scatter that little family of yours to the wind, and I will hunt each and every one of them down. No one else left scars on you, Ferris, but me? I did."

Oz forced himself not to touch the mark. He'd never told anyone how he got it. He never would.

"You'll be turning over that building to me in less than a week. Think of this as... a hostile takeover."

"You won't win. I always have a plan."

"Not against me. I know all your weaknesses. I know how you think. And I know how much I can take from you before you break. I remember that, too. Goes so well with your scar."

Oz knew he would lose if he said what he was actually thinking, the curses and names and threats he wanted to spew but would only make him seem out of control and scared. "You always were so deluded."

"As were you, my friend. I'll see you soon, Ferris."

The call ended, and Oz threw his phone. He should have known about this. He prided himself on being ten steps ahead and prepared for any possible outcome. He wasn't. Not for this. He would have to scramble, and he was going to have to do a lot he didn't like.

Starting with selling Contra.

* * *

"You want me to what?"

"Disappear," Oz answered. He'd been going over the variables, and from a strictly numbers point of view—which he had to assume was all his "friend" had after years locked away, Josh was the first and best target of the other man's ire. He was gambling, and he'd sworn he was going to stop that, but he couldn't send everyone off at once. Josh was also a logical choice because he was a master of disguise. He could disappear, and he should.

"Interesting," Josh said. "Is this for a job?"

"For your life."

Josh stared at him. "This is one of your jokes, right?"

"No." Oz could not afford jokes. He'd entered into negotiations to sell Contra to a conglomerate, which would buy him some time. It wasn't an ideal fix, but the deal with OCP gave him some controlling interest and retained his relative position within the company. He'd moved his funds to an untraceable location, which made him look broke but kept it out of his enemy's reach.

He was two steps in, but he felt like he was a dozen behind, and he couldn't accept that.

"Oz?"

"I don't like telling the truth," Oz admitted. He'd never been good with it, and sidestepping or slight of hand always seemed to work better than the actual facts. He knew how to handle himself if things turned ugly, and the truth made that happen more often than not. "You know this."

Josh nodded. "I do. I'm not sure any of us knows a true thing about you, not even me, and I've been there the longest."

Oz nodded. He didn't share details with anyone, and even with legitimate jobs, he never told them more than what they absolutely needed to know. "I can't tell you everything. Some of it is classified, and the rest I won't talk about. No, most of it I won't talk about. A few pieces are classified."

Josh frowned. "Okay, but that doesn't actually explain anything. Why do you want me to disappear?"

"I don't _want_ you to disappear. I _need_ you to disappear."

"I know I normally do whatever you ask of me, but this is different. I need a reason. A real reason. This is my life. I live for this job."

Oz knew that. He did not want to do this to Josh, didn't want to do this to any of them. He hated the idea of selling his company, and he hated losing his people. That could still happen if the deal with OCP went wrong. He had chosen that company because there was less chance of Deacon being able to get himself involved with them. They were the obvious choice, since they were also snapping up other security firms, but he knew that Deacon's record would keep him from getting too much power there.

Oz had made sure he owned his own fair share of stock in OCP as well, and if need be, he could get more, enough to gain a controlling interest. Shell companies were valuable things.

"You remember Shaw?"

Josh frowned. "He that cannot be named? The backstabber you replaced with Cameron the kiss ass?"

"Cameron's not a kiss ass, but yes. That Shaw."

"This is about Shaw?"

"No. Forget about Shaw. Shaw is small time compared to what this is. Remember, Josh, we are in the business of security. We help our clients keep the bad guys away, but when we do that—"

"We make enemies. So, what, this guy is someone you made an enemy of?"

Oz nodded. "More than just an enemy. There's this whole betrayal and vendetta and he's a complete sociopath or is it just psychopath? I get them confused sometimes. Either way, he's bad news. He swore he'd take Contra from me and kill everyone there."

Josh stared at him. "Please tell me this is just a situation where the fear is real."

Oz handed him a candy bar, knowing the man needed to stress eat. "I wish it was. Josh, I need you to disappear. Go off the grid. Don't let Cameron or anyone else find you. No electronic traces, nothing like that. You know how to disguise yourself better than anyone. You just have to do it for real this time. Life or death stakes."

"Are you sending the others away, too?"

Oz shook his head. "Not yet, and not if I can help it. You know Cameron and Cash. They couldn't function. Melanie, she'd be all right, but the boys..."

"Point taken. How far do you think I should go?"

"Far."

"Oz—"

"Think of this guy as me, only completely evil instead of quirky scary. Don't underestimate him, don't think you can surface if it seems like no one is watching you. Don't contact anyone from your current or former life. I'll find a way to let you know when it's safe."

Josh nodded. "Will do."

Oz started to walk away, but Josh called out to him.

"Oz, wait," Josh began, and Oz looked back at him. "What happens if he goes after you?"

"He said he'd destroy everything and everyone I care about first, so I've got time," Oz said. He was planning on using that to anger Deacon into attacking him directly when he couldn't get at any of Oz' people, but that would still take time. "It's me, Josh. I always have a plan."

"Yeah. Be careful, Oz."

"You, too, Josh."


	2. Chapter 2

**Pawns and Players  
Chapter Two  
Word Count:** 2,228 **  
Rating/Disclaimer/Summary:** Same as chapter 1, really **  
Author's Note:** So this takes the episode "Clash of the Titans" as episode two of the second season. It doesn't really make much sense if it's not the second episode, and it fit with the phone call I wanted to set up my next bit of behind the scenes plot.

There is a real plot coming that diverges from the episodes, but the first part is setting up what happened behind what was shown on tv and what was really motivating a lot of it.

And I loved the episode where Oz tells Melanie she's family, and I really wanted that to show and be a part of this, but I have some real doubts about getting anyone on this show right.

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

The battle for the office was a carefully constructed multi-pronged plan, and it went down rather perfectly. Oz had learned quickly that he could count on Cameron to play his part, even when he had no idea what part he was playing. Locking him in the office with Veronica was rather a stoke of genius, though Cash was far from forgiven for the ass grab.

Still, it worked. Oz got what he wanted, more or less, since he disliked having to use his private office full time, but the others had what they needed, and that was important.

He couldn't protect his team if he couldn't keep them, and none of them would have stayed for through what she was doing to them. He knew that none of them could survive that kind of environment. Contra had been against that sort of thing from the beginning, and he didn't intend to lose that part of it any more than he was willing to lose the company or his people.

His phone rang, and he answered it without looking at it, still enjoying his cigar.

"You know that will kill you, Ferris," Deacon said. "Fortunately, it will take years, so I'll still get that pleasure first."

"Ah, Deacon. Always amusing to hear from you."

"I doubt it," Deacon said. "How much have you been scrambling lately? Did you really bankrupt yourself to keep that money from me? You're the one that's funny. You've already lost. No money. No company. You've even lost one of your best people. What happened to Armstrong?"

"I think he quit. There were these Brazilian triplets... Josh was never that big on monogamy, so... it kind of suited him."

"You used to be a better liar."

Oz forced a smile. "No, Deacon. That was you. You actually gave a convincing impression of a human being once. I've never forgotten it. Really, that kind of talent belongs on the big screen... except, of course, you're a sociopath, so that won't ever happen."

"You haven't won anything, Ferris. Maybe I can't destroy your company. Maybe you saved Armstrong, but there are still plenty of people I can harm. In fact, I know exactly which one should be first. After all, he's the newest one, and that makes him perfect."

"Of course it does," Oz agreed, making a note to get some extra surveillance on Cameron just in case. He knew Deacon was lying about his target. That was such an obvious trick he was insulted the man had tried.

"Tell me," Deacon said. "You consider yourself a bit of a... father figure, don't you? How would it feel if you were... a grandfather?"

"I'm not expecting to live that long. Or are you already admitting you failed?"

"Oh, I never said you'd live to see your grandchild. You won't."

"Why are you playing these games? If you want me, come after me. You know I won't let you get to any of my people."

"I want to watch you try. And I want to watch you fail. Because you will fail. First I'll take that hacker of yours, and then I think I'll get your gadget man... who will be left? It's not like I even need to take care of your mechanic."

No, Oz had done that. Dutch was not a favorite, but minimum security prison kept him safe enough, and he seemed to be enjoying himself there by all accounts. It was insane, but then so was Dutch.

"I wonder what plan you'll have this time. I did enjoy the one for your office. Masterful work. Some of your best stuff and no one even knew they were being conned. Still, it won't be enough. Oh, and do try and get some sleep tonight. I would hate to think of you missing your beauty rest over me."

"You think I'm going to stay up all night worrying about which one of my people is leaking you information?" Oz asked. "Why don't you wonder if I'm letting them show you exactly what I want you to see?"

The call ended, and Oz allowed himself a small smile. It wasn't much of a victory, but he'd take it. It was only going to get worse from here.

* * *

"We need to talk."

Melanie started, grimacing when she saw Oz. She knew better than this, though he did seem to come and go less out of his secret rooms now that Veronica and her blonde pet were here. God, she hated both of them. They'd managed to ruin everything good about the office even after Oz had given up his office to keep things the way they were.

It wasn't the same. No Josh. No Dutch. Two extras that had no business being here, even if the company had been sold.

"Oz, if this is about me and Cameron, I've got that handled. You don't need to stage an intervention again," she told him, thinking of the team building exercise. It was just a cuddle, nothing Oz needed to fix. She didn't want to know how he would. It actually scared her. "Really."

Oz shook his head. "It's not about that. I'm afraid I need you to disappear."

"What?" Melanie almost found herself looking for one of Cash's inventions that would make her invisible for a job or something. Maybe it was a suit or camera trick. Some kind of tech, and while Oz might think she should test it, she wouldn't. "No. I really don't have time for your jokes right now. Or your games."

Oz looked at her in that way that actually was scary because he meant whatever this was. "No jokes. No games."

"Okay, it's working. I wouldn't admit this to anyone else, Oz, but you're scaring me," Melanie told him. She swallowed. "What is going on?"

"I'm not broke."

"They towed your car, and you sold Contra. I'd say you're broke."

Oz shook his head. "I'm not broke. That was what I told Cameron and let him tell the rest of you to get you on board with selling to Contra."

Shit. She should have known. "Damn it, Oz. If you just wanted money—"

"It isn't about the money," Oz told her. He turned away, and she wasn't sure if this was another manipulation or not. It was so hard to tell with Oz, and somehow she still trusted him every time. "You need to disappear, go completely off the grid, cut off all contact with everyone you know here. No phone calls, no emails, no social media. Nothing traceable."

"Oz, what are you talking about?"

"It won't surprise you to hear that I'm not perfect."

"No, you?"

He gave her a look, and she stopped trying to tease him. "I made enemies on my way to making Contra. You know that."

She did. Security could be a dangerous business, but that was half the reason she liked it. That, and it gave her a good use for her skills. "Oz, if this is some story to teach me a lesson about how feelings matter or how they get in the way or—"

"I didn't sell Contra because I'm broke. I sold it to stop a hostile takeover," Oz said. "And when I say hostile, I don't mean just in the sense of stock market fixes and forced unemployment."

"Oh, god. Is this why Josh 'quit?'"

Oz flinched. That was either one hell of a manipulation or it was real, and that was almost terrifying coming from Oz. "Yes."

"Oz—"

"You have to go off the grid. You can. I know you can. You're good at what you do."

"No. I am staying here. I don't care. This is some joke or test, and you got me. I'm scared. The fear was real, but I'm done with this game, okay? I've got to go talk to Cameron, and then I have a job I should be doing and—"

"I don't loop my ys."

She frowned, needing a moment to process that shift. "I know you don't. I should have known back when I got the first postcard, but I wanted to believe in him."

"I don't loop my ys," Oz repeated, and she just stared at him. "You know what that means."

"We're family."

"Exactly." Oz put his hands on her arms, looking at her with such concern she shivered. This couldn't be real, but it felt very real. "You are like a daughter to me. I am proud of you. Don't ever forget that."

"I haven't."

"The things this man would do to you are... well, barbaric is a tame way of putting it," Oz said, moving a hand to her cheek. "I won't let him hurt you, but that means you have to go. No contact. Not with anyone at Contra. Especially not me. Though—Cameron. No. Just... don't. If you value his life, don't."

"Oz, I swear, if this is a joke—"

"You'd kill me. Or at least, you'd try to. It's cute that you still think you can," he said with a slight smile. "No joke. Mel, you have to go. This man... he made a threat. He said it was about Cameron, that he's planning to make a move against him, but he's not. He's after you."

"Wait. You're not going to do anything about the threat to Cameron?"

"He asked me what I'd do if I had grandchildren," Oz said, and Melanie only needed to look at his face to understand the implications of that. "I don't want to send you away. I was hoping I wouldn't have to, but I blocked him from getting Contra by selling to OCP, I sent Josh into hiding, and I won the office war with Veronica. I even nailed the Frohman account. He's angry, and he will take that out on you. That is why you have to go."

She nodded. "Okay."

"And you have to push Cameron away."

"What?" Melanie shook her head. For all that she'd been fighting with the Brit and Cash kept claiming she was jealous, there was nothing going on with her and Cameron. They were friends. That was it. Okay, he was in love with her, but that didn't mean she had to push him away. "No."

"If I'm right and he's targeting you, you not only need a reason to go that is not me warning you away but you also need to make it so that Cameron won't look for you. He cares about you. More than he should, some might say, but that's how it is. You break his heart, and this bastard who's taunting me will leave him alone. He's into watching people suffer. You'd be saving Cameron in the off chance that I'm wrong about this."

Melanie didn't want to accept any of this. "And what happens when he can't get me or Cameron? He goes after Cash? You can't let him do that, either."

"I'm not. I have a plan."

"What, to piss this guy off so badly he comes after you directly?" Melanie asked, and then she swore. "Damn it, that _is_ your plan, isn't it?"

"Pretty much. Once he sees he can't let me be free to protect any of you, he will come after me directly instead of trying for you. That, or he'll take out half of the city to get you, but I'm hoping I can make him angry enough to avoid the nuclear bomb and just go straight for his original target."

"That's insane."

"So is he. That's what makes it almost a perfect plan."

She sighed. "I don't want to go. I don't like this. I want to stay and fight, not run."

"I will need your help later, trust me."

Melanie shook her head. "That's a little hard right now. I know you're not telling me everything, and I don't like this plan—if it's even your real plan."

"I can take care of myself," Oz told her. "It's the rest of you I'm worried about. And if you tell anyone I said that—"

"I know. You'll kill me," she said, laughing even as she choked up a bit. "I'm going to miss you. I didn't say that, but I am."

Oz pulled her into his arms and held on tight, never once trying to put her in a sleep hold. She didn't know what she'd do if this went wrong, if his plan didn't work. She couldn't lose any of them, either. As weird as Contra was, it was family, the boys like brothers at the very least, and while her father had taught her everything she knew, Oz was the man who'd been like a father to her in the ways that really mattered.

"I really hate this."

"It's temporary."

"It had better be."

"Would I lie to you?"

"Yes."

Oz laughed, and she held on tighter, knowing she wouldn't get this moment again, not for a long time, if ever, since neither of them were big huggers and they'd never show this kind of affection in the office where anyone might see. When she left for good, it wouldn't be with hugs.

"I meant what I said. I'm proud of you."

"Stop it. If you make me cry, I really will kill you."

"Again, it's cute that you still think you can."


	3. Chapter 3

**Pawns and Players  
Chapter Three  
Word Count:** 2,040 **  
Rating/Disclaimer/Summary:** Same as chapter 1, really **  
Author's Note:** I was rewatching the episode with the pudding theft, and I knew how it fit into this alternate version of the season. I think other episodes would require bigger changes. I also wanted to show a bit of what this enemy of Oz was really like.

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 _The thing about escape training was it was good only so long as the man who trained you wasn't the man you needed to escape from, which Oz found out to his dismay, waking up from a nasty head wound in some foreign country that had a lot of desert. He supposed he couldn't be sure it was a foreign country, but for some reason, no one ever really seemed to do much torturing in New Mexico or Arizona. It was some kind of thing, but he didn't know what it was._

 _"_ _Ah, Ferris. I was waiting for you to wake up," Deacon said in his ear, and he cursed himself for reacting at all to it. Oz did not flinch, but he'd just flinched._

 _He'd also turned the guy in for war crimes, sick violations of the Geneva convention, so he supposed there could be a few reasons why flinching was reasonable for almost anyone else in this position._

 _He knew what was coming for him, what Deacon would do. He'd seen the videos, or he might not have believed it himself. He knew it could have been faked, but he knew what Deacon was capable of, and this wasn't as surprising as it should have been._

 _Oz was just ashamed he'd ever thought of this man as a friend._

 _"_ _I've made sure we're alone. No one will find us here."_

 _"_ _Oh, really, you're starting with the cliché?" Oz asked, watching Deacon as the other man circled him, a strange and extremely painful looking blade in his hand. "Why is it always the cliché? 'No one will hear you scream.' Is that really that scary a threat? Or is it just overused Hollywood hype? Because I'm thinking the second one."_

 _"_ _And you go right to the deflection," Deacon said, touching the blade to Oz' cheek. He moved it across his skin, light enough to where it didn't break the surface, but every move meant Oz could lose what he knew was a very pretty face._

 _"_ _So, what, we play games the entire time, is that it?"_

 _A second blade stabbed deep into Oz' hip, and he swore, not able to contain his reaction to the unexpected pain. He hadn't seen that one coming. Deacon had him distracted. That could not happen again. He could not afford another injury to his leg, either. Legs were more necessary than hands at this point. He couldn't do much if he couldn't walk, which was why Deacon was starting there._

 _He'd cripple Oz' feet soon enough. That was only to be expected._

 _He had to get out of here first, but since Deacon had taught Oz most of what he knew, that would not be easy._

* * *

Oz woke with a start, looking at the clock. Damn it. He was reliving the memories of hours in the space of a few minutes, getting no rest, as only a little bit of time passed with him actually asleep, and when he dreamed, it was far from peaceful.

He didn't do happy dreams. He would like to, but he'd seen too many bad things in his life, and even the money he had to waste on Sky Mall did not erase the knowledge in his brain or his near obsessive need to plan things in advance.

He was never going to allow himself to be in the same position as Deacon had forced him into when he was young, and if that mean crazy, complex plans that went twenty steps ahead with every variable accounted for, it was what it took.

Of course, it was a little hard to think of anything like that when he hadn't sleep in a week, more or less. He was starting to doubt his own judgment, and Deacon had yet to make a move on Cameron or Cash, which left Oz uncertain of what was coming.

The inaction was driving him insane, and the lack of sleep would push him right over the edge.

* * *

He'd kind of known it was coming, but the meltdown over the pudding happened anyway.

He hadn't slept in days, waking night after night with nightmares and memories plaguing him, and while most of the time, he didn't regret his immunity to sedatives and poisons—that was a good thing in almost every other respect—he couldn't use any of them to get him past this.

No sleep for Oz.

And then... there was no pudding for Oz.

Thing was, if this was before the sale, no one would have dared touch Oz' pudding. He also wouldn't have had to put it in the communal fridge, but those things had changed since Deacon resurfaced and he'd been forced to sell. He didn't have access to every room like he used to, not unless he wanted to give them away to Veronica or her stooge, and he wasn't. Some of those had to remain sealed, like the one with the plutonium.

So he put his pudding in the fridge with everyone else's food, but as it was his, it should have been sacred. And when it disappeared, it was pretty damned obvious that it was someone new who did it, since most of the others would not have touched it. They knew better than to mess with Oz' things.

Molly was too polite. Veronica was the obvious suspect.

And so he brought a chainsaw to a pillow fight.

* * *

Molly's impromptu drunken kiss was a wake up call. The whole thing had gone too far, and knowing that Deacon was watching him made what she did extremely dangerous for her. Even if Oz had been tempted—he was human, he was tempted—to take her up on that offer, had it been made sober, he knew he couldn't.

He had to shake her of any romantic ideas, knowing that she could easily become a target for Deacon now.

So he got Cash and Cameron to help him drive her away, which did not go as well as he would have thought. Either Molly was very determined to like him and his hideous borrowed shirt, or she would have liked Cash doing all this to her.

That was a bit of a strange thought, but maybe there was something there. Even if there wasn't, she'd be better off with Cash at this point. Deacon would see to it any woman in Oz' life would be harmed, put through the worst things a woman could endure, just because she was near him.

* * *

That should have made it easier to let her quit, but then it wasn't at the same time.

Oz knew that anyone who left Contra was vulnerable, and that was why he'd sold the company, to keep everyone together. So he had to ensure that Molly didn't quit, especially after the kiss and the 'date' even if it wasn't a date.

He organized his people, prepared for when his efforts prodding Veronica toward a move that would get her secretary to stay failed. The woman was too scatterbrained to know what she needed to do or any of the information she should have. Oz appreciated it in many ways, since she was easy to run rings around—Molly less so—and he liked that about her except when he needed her to convince Molly not to leave.

When that failed, he brought out the others with a full Contra birthday bash, even claiming it was Veronica's idea.

And Molly stayed.

She confronted him about the check for the cakes, and he burned it, renewing his irritation of her for busting Jones and ending the slush fund. He needed that to cover a lot more than being his employees' friend when he had to stay scary boss most of the time. It would have made subverting Deacon a hell of a lot easier, since he couldn't touch most of his money.

Still, it worked. Molly wanted a professional relationship, and she stayed with Contra.

He won, again, and Deacon lost.

* * *

Assuming that was ever part of Deacon's plan.

Oz couldn't be sure.

And all he could do was wait for the next attack. The next call.

* * *

"I thought you liked blondes, Ferris."

"I like a great many things and a great many women," Oz said. He'd had several relationships and flings over the years, and he only regretted a few of them. His on and off thing with Amy was one of the longer running more toxic ones he'd been in, but Deacon put that to shame. They'd been friends once, close as brothers, and then he'd proved to be a real sociopath who tortured for fun.

And since Oz was fairly sure that was how Deacon got his sexual kicks, the fact that he'd tortured Oz cast a rather unpleasant shadow on their relationship, but he tried not to think too much about that.

"And yet you turned this one down," Deacon went on. "Even more interesting since it was all over your office that it had been some time since you were intimate."

"That is the beauty of being a myth, Deacon. No one knows anything except what I want them to know, and that is not who I spent the night with," Oz said. He knew some might suggest that sex could help with his current sleeping problem, a good tension release, and normally, he'd be all for that.

Knowing that anyone involved with him would be tortured and killed kind of ruined the mood. He wasn't about to put anyone in that kind of danger. The whole point of this ugly dance with Deacon was to make sure that no one else got hurt.

And since Deacon was one of the best at going to ground, better than Oz' people, he would have to keep playing. He might not have Cameron's skills, but he had some of his own as well as alternate contacts he knew wouldn't connect back to him, and he'd used them to trace Deacon as much as he could.

The man was a damned ghost.

"I'd forgotten just how proud you were of that. You were always a bit of a child. Too naïve in spite of everything. Too trusting. Didn't you ever suspect that I had built you up to completely destroy you? Did you honestly think we were friends?"

Oz had. Not because he was childish or naïve, but because they didn't just bond over the things that were light and happy, fluffy kittens and puppies. Oz wasn't much for pets, which was half the reason he'd given that dog he'd inherited to Cash. No, he and Deacon had also bonded over the darker parts of their souls. Being a killer was a vibe he gave off to get tables and motivate his staff, but he hadn't perfected that vibe with acting alone.

He was dangerous. The difference was, he was sane. He knew right and wrong, and while he bent the laws and the rules, even broke a few to do his job, he wasn't the sort of man who killed for fun. Not like Deacon.

"You did, or so you claim," Oz reminded him. "We were friends, and that's why my so-called betrayal of you stings so badly. Never mind that you had already betrayed me or that you'd tortured me and had I not gotten the upper hand there I'd already be dead. You are still having a little hissy fit because I managed to turn you in."

"Do you know what they do to men like me when they lock us away?"

"Put you in solitary and interview you for thesis papers? Then they write books and make movies, profiting from your confinement and calling you a monster. All the while, you get three square meals a day, a roof over your head, and your own private room. Actually sounds better than a lot of people have things, and certainly better than any of your victims."

"You would have hated it."

"Yes."

"I will make sure you endure much worse, Ferris. I promise you that."

"You already did."

"You saved the blonde. You saved Armstrong and Garcia. This is the last time you get to win. Next time, you will lose, and someone will die."


End file.
